Photographic shutter.



. PATENTED MAR. 12, 1907. G. DIETZ. PHOTOGRAPHIIO SHUTTEI}.

APPLICATION FILED MARHI, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I No. 846,984. I PATENTED MAR. 12, 1907.

G. DIETZ.

I BHOTOGRA-PHIG SHUTTER.

APPHOATION FILED MAR.7, 1906.

3 SHBETSSHEET 2.

PATENTED MAR. 12, 1907.

G. DIETZ. PHOTOGRAPHIG SHUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED MARJ,

3 8 HEETSSHBET 3.

UNITED STAIIIES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV DIETZ, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SHQTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed March 12, 1907.

Application filed its-a7, 1906. Serial No. 304,612.

useful Improvements in Photographic Shutters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the photographic shutter for which I was granted Letters Patent N 0. 827,513 on July 31, 1906. This shutter was mainly designed for the use of professional photographers and advanced amateur photographers. For the purpose of rendering it more useful for the larger number of less practiced amateurs and adapting it for smaller-sized cameras, kodaks, &c., it was .found necessary to inclose the operating mechanism of the shutter by a dust proofcover and to arrange a visual speed-indicator;

and for this purpose the invention consists of a photographic shutter provided with aldustcover of special construction.

photographic shutter, showing the arrangement of the dust-cover and speed-indicating ring. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line 22, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section through the driving mechanism on line 3 3, Fig. 1, showing the connection with the speed-indicating rlng. Fig. 4 is a detail section through the fly operating mechanism. Figs. 5 and 6 are front elevations of the shutter with the dust-cover removed, showing the partsin position with the retarding device moved in and out of connection, respectively, with the drivingring. Fig. 7 is a detail vertical transverse section online 7 7, Fig. 5, drawn on a'larger scale. Fig. 8 is a detail vertical transverse section on line 8 8, Fig. 6, showing the release mechanism set-for time exposure. detail front elevation of the release mechanism shown in released position; and Figs. 10

and 11 are rear elevations of the shutter,

Fig.9isa' showing the files inopen and closed position, respectively.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

Referring tothe drawings ,f represents the ring-shaped case of a so-called betweenlens shutter. On .a ring-shabed guideshoulder 1* of the case is guided a drivingring 1". To this ring rotary motion is imparted around-the case by means of a driving mechanism, which is arranged at one side of the case f and which consists of an interior steel axle a, which carries at its inner end a bevel gear-wheel a, the projecting end of the axle a turning in journal-bearings of a bracket c attached to the ring-shaped case f. The steel axle a is supported in a brass tube (Z Which is open at the inner end and which is supported at its opposite end in journal-bearings of a bracket a. To the outer end of the brass tube a is attached a hand-crank a by a screw a The brass tube a carries, adjacent to the bracket a a ratchet-wheel a which is engaged by a, pawl c pivoted to the ring-shaped case of the shutter, said pawl a carrying a handle a for permitting the lifting of the pawl out of the teeth of the ratchetwheel or lowering it into engagement with the same. The hand-crank a and the ratchetwheel a can be turned in either direction. Around the brass tube a is arranged a helical spring I), which is attached at one endto' the bevel gear-wheel a and at its opposite end to the ratchet-wheel c so'that when the handcrank a is turned in either direction the helical spring I) is set to tension-or, in other words, power is stored up in the same, which power is used as the driving force for the movement of the shutter-driving ring. As soon as the spring I) is set to torsional tension the pawl a is dropped into the teeth of the ratchet-wheel c7, so that thereby the pawl and-ratchet mechanism and the brass tube a are locked in position and the full tens on of the spring exerted on the bevel gear-wheel and the parts driven thereby as soon as this action is required. The bevel gear-wheel a is placed in mesh with the driving-ring 1", which is-guided around the ring-shaped guide-shoulder 1', to which the front lensls applied. The movable driving-ring r is'provided for a certain distance of its circumference with teeth 1*, that are in mesh with the bevel gear-wheel,

the toothed portion being of sufiicientlength t that they turn on the pivots.

e and held in proper position by stay-slev es c ing spri tensionfor throwing the flies over.

- tion of the shutter-case.

, the front portion of the cap 0, both being conso as to permit the required shifting motion 1 neutral space i from three-fourths to one to be imparted to the driving-ring 1' in either direction for properly working the shutter. The guide-shoulder r is provided with four steel pivots 1 to which the flies d of the shutter, of which four are arranged, are applied so The "drivingring 1 has four steel pins r which engage slots 1", arranged in the flies so as to operate the same, as shown in Figs. 4, 10, and 11. The steel pivots 1* are at the centers of the rotary flies and are evenly spaced around the opening n the shutter-case, said flies being rotated in the same direction for the opening movement as well as for the closing movement. The flies are preferably made of thin plates of celluloid, which are increased in thickness at their center and cemented to brass bushings r, the thickened or reinforced parts giving the flies the required strength for resisting the strain to which they are exposed in starting or stopping.

In order to reduce the friction between the driving-ring and the shoulder r, the latter is provided with a number of small steel rollers 1, preferably six, upon which the drivingring bears.

A dust-cover c c is fitted to the front por- It consists of a circumferential cap 0, of rectangular cross-section,-and a front plate 0, which extends over nected by four screws 0 to the shutter-case placed around said screws. 7 By the cover the o crating parts of the shutter are entirely inc osed, so as to prevent the settling of dust in and casual injury to the operating parts, especially when the shutter is used for outside work.

Around the circumference of the. front plate c and resting against the front portion of the angular cap 0 is arranged a speed-indicating ring '8, which is provided with a circumferent ial gear a that meshes with the ratchet-wheel a7 and follows the motion of the same in both directions, according as the hand-crank a is turned inone or the oppoe site direction, said ring indicatin thereby visually the exact tension of the y-operat- The speed-indicating ring i is. raduate the speeds of the fast exposures rom one one-hundredth to one six-hundredth part of a second being marked on the upper half and extending from the central neutral s ace '3" of the speed-indicating ring in both irections, to the leftand the right. The neutral space is determined by the movement of the spring and speed-indicating ring from "one closed position of the shutter to the other closed position, as this is the lowest On the opposite lower side of the speed-indicating ring are marked the speeds for a retarding device, also to .the left and right of a second due-hundredth of a second. To correct the changes of the spring tension that may vary from different causes, there are five stationary guide-points a? marked on'the front plate 0 opposite the neutral parts of the ring. Ex

posures up to one four-hundredth part of a second can be made by turning the coilspring in either direction, which keeps the steel spring always in average tension. For

faster exposures, up to one sixhundredth and over, the speed-indicating rmgwhen the spring has been worklng 1n one direction successively will not assume the same position.

as on the start, as the tension of the actuating-spring is bound to "lose some of its power. In this case not the first but one of the other of the five guideoints i is the guide-mark. After the spring flas rested for some time in opposite tension it will bring the speed-indieating ring-back to its normal position. The

, knob or handle a of the pawl a that is used in connection with the ratchet-wheel a passes through a short slot a in the front plate, so as to permit the lifting of the pawl a out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel or the dropping back into the same, as required for setting the driving-spring to ten sion. The speed-indicating ring i being worked in connection with theratchet-wheel a and driving-spring I) gives especially to less practiced photographers andiamateurs a visual indication of the tension at which the shutter is working and to which it is to be set.

The escapement mechanism by which thedriving-ring 1' is engaged or released consists of two elbow-levers e e which are both pivoted to a'fulcrum-pin e on the up er part of the ring-shaped case f, the elbowever e being of greater length than the elbow-lever e". The shorter elbow-lever e is set by a knob k, havin a pointer 7c and fastened to a small steel s aft k, which is screwed into the short elbow-lever for bulb exposures, said shaft.

extendin through holes inihe longer elbow-.

lever an shutter-case proper. The shorter elbow-lever e is ressed against the end of the longer elbowever by a helical spring 7c, which is placed onthe shaftk and interposed between the front plate of the cover and the shorter elbow-lever, as shown in Fig. '2. For changing the short elbow-lever e from instantaneous'to bulb exposures, and vice versa, the knob 7c is lifted with the short elbow-lever e, so that a pin 0 on the same 'is lifted out of,

the pin-hole in the longer elbow-lever, after which the knob-and elbow-lever c are turned and the pin 0 drop ed into a second pin-hole 0 on the longer el ow-lever, the pointer 7c being moved at the same time from the point marked I on the front plate to the point ET. The longer elbow-lever e is actuated either by means of a piston-rod p, whose piston is guided in a cylinder p" and operated by anair-bulb or by a flexible wire-release or by means of "a hand-lever h h, which is arranged sidewise of the piston-rod, as

the bulb, the part h of said lever engaging the piston-rod and acting to lift the same when the part his depressed. The part h is normally -held in downward springh The part it may Wardly, as shown in Fig. 5. The piston-rod p has a short spring-actuated push-lever p1 as shown in Fig. 8', which is pivoted to t e position by a side of the same and which serves for engagin raised position.

ing a smallelbow-lever t, that is fulcrumed to a longer time-lever t and held normally against a stop-pin t on the same by a spring t For time exposures the longer elbow-lever e is set for bulb exposures and held in engagement with the driving-ring through the lever arrangement t t. The longer lever t is disengaged when the pointer t of its knob i connected to the same, is moved away from the mark T on the front plate of the cover. Byturning the knob and pointer to the mark T the levert is moved toward the longer escapement-lever e and brings the small elbowlever t over the recessed end of the escapement-lever e, as shown in Fig. 9. When the escapement-lever e is lifted b the piston-rod p, the upper arm of the e bow-lever t is pushed up and dropped into the recessed end of the escapement-lever and holds the same The lower arm of the elbow-lever t is pushed by the lifting of the upper arm undenthe piston-rod and over the small push-lever p By pushing the piston-rod in upward direction for the second time the-push-lever p pushes the lower arm of the elbow-lever t up and disengages at the same tinie the upper arm from the escapement-lever, so that the'latter drops down and permits the release of the driving-ring and noiseless.

the closing of the shutter. v

For slow instantaneous e'xposures'a retardlng device is necessary, which at the same time renders the operation of the shutter The retarding device consists of a cylinder 'n, attached to the 'frameof the shutter-case, with an air-hole n? in the end of the cylinder. The piston 71/, v sliding in the cylinder, is pivoted to a piston-rod M, and the piston-rod provided with a V-shaped bend n at about its center for receiving a finger 71?, connected to the driving-ring 1'; The opposite end of, the iston-rod n is pivoted to the lower end of a ink n", which is pivoted at its upper end to a pin n on a verticallyguided plate a a sleeve being placed over "the pin and extended through a slot n in the front plate of the cover and provided with a knob a and pointer n ,-by which the adjustment of the retarding device is effected from slow to fast instantaneous exposure, and vice versa. The finger rfiis guided in an arcshaped slot n in the case f. To connect the e folded upretarding device with the finger n on the driving-ring r, the knob 12, is turned till the i pointer n stands parallel with an exterior handle 11, on the finger n on the drivingring. The knob n is then pushed up with the guide-plate n, which will bring the V- shaped bend in the piston-rod n of the retarding device over the finger n on the driving-ring, as shown in Fig. 5. For disconnecting the retarding device the knob n and guide-plate n are pushed down, which action moves the piston-rod n in downward-direction and releases the V-shaped bend from'the finger n on the. driving-ring, as shown in Fig. 6. a

An aircheck for cushioning the high speeds of the driving-ring is. arranged at the lower part of the front plate of the cover be- 1 low the retarding device and is composed of a cylinder m, having a large opening m in its head. The piston 'm of the air-check is pivoted to the lower end of a forked lever m which is fulcrumed at m to the case. or the other of the arms of the forked lever m? is struck by the finger m on the driving-ring tards. thereby the completion of the movement of the drivingvring for high s eeds either by compression or suction. The lbwer end of the vertical guide-plate n has an arm m slanting in downward direction, which arm is guided along inclined guides orkeepers m on a horizontally-guided slide-rod m, to the opposite end of which is applied a softrubber button m which serves to 0 en or close the air-opening in the head of t e aircheck 0 linder, closing the opening when the guide-p ate n is pushed downand opening it when the guide-plate is moved up,- and placing therebythe retarding device simultaneousl tive in Figs. 5 and 6.

The operation of the improved shutter is as stantaneous, retarded -'instantaneous, bulb, and time exposure. For high-instantaneous is unimpeded and turns very quickly about the guide-shoulder in either direction. The lowest tension at which the motor-spring will operate the shutter is 'roduced by onehalf turn of the spring, an when the s'pri has been turned three and one-half times the highest tension of the spring is reached. The exposure speeds of course increase in ratio to the turns of the spring. Throughout all high speeds the pneumatic check is closed and the driving-ring is cushioned at the end of each. exposure. For slow-instantaneous exposures the retarding device is connected to the driving-ring by operating the knob r2 as hereinbefore described. This action at the same time opens the pneumatic check,

retarding action is caused by the air slowly One at the moment when the flies close and re- ICC follows: The speeds are divid'd into high-inspeeds the driving-ring for operating the-flies which is not necessary for slow'speeds. The

filling the cylinder and being slowly expelledf through the opening therein. The speeds 0 4. .In a hot'ographic shutter, the combination, wit the escapement mechanism, and

these exposures may of course be varied by l the mechanism for driving the flies, of a increasing or decreasing the tension of the motor-spring. If the piston of the retardingi cylinder is connected to the driving-ring, the l action of the shutter is absolutely noiseless.

the short elbow-lever e; is set for bulb exposures or through turning the knob t the time-stop lever is brought close to the escapement -lever for time exposures. In these cases the driving-ring, with the flies, moves slowly and noiselessly until the driving-ring is arrested by the engagement of its tooth with the short elbow-lever e and com- It is also noiseless when through the knob is when the stop-tooth of the driving-ring is released. These bulb and time exposures are quick-acting without the retarding device,

. but are accompanied by the click of the metal. Since the speed-indicating ring 'travels in either direction, according to the tension' of the motor-spring, the exposure speeds asshown on the speed-indicating ring are absolutely correct, and vice versa the spring may be put to the tension required, as indicated by said indicating-ring.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as. new and desire to secure by Letters Patent g 1. In a hotographic shutter, the combination, wit a spring-actuated driving mechanism for the flies of a speed-indicating ring arranged circumfer'entially around the shut- I ter, and an operative connection between said driving mechanism and said indicatingring, whereby, the latter is moved in either direction by the former. 4

2, In a photographic shutter, the combination," with a driving mechanism for the flies including a motor-spring, of a speed-indicating rin' and an operative connection between sai motor-spring. and said indicating-ring, whereby the latteris moved in the same direction and in the same ratio as'the formen y I 3. In a photographic shutter, the combi- 3 nation, with the shutter-case, of. a driving mechanism for the flies including a ratchetwheel, and a s cod-indicating ring geared to i said ratchet-w eel and provided withspeedindicating graduations. 1 1 p l retarding device,

time-lever fulcrumed to the case, and an elbow-lever "fulcrumed to said time-lever and adapted to be thrown into engagement with the escapement mechanism.

5. In a photographic shutter, the combination, with the escapement mechanism, and the fly-driving mechanism, of a time-lever, anelbow-lever fulcrumed 'to the same, and means for setting the time-lever for placing the elbow-lever in or out of engagement with. the escapement mechanism.

6. In a photographic shutter, the combination, with the driving-ring for the flies provided with a finger extension, of a retarding device, and means for ing device in or out of engagement with the finger extension. a

7 In aphotographic shutter, the combination, with the driving-ring for the flies, of a forked lever fulcrumed to the case, anaircheck connected with the forked lever, and means for opening or closing the air-check.

8. In a photographic shutter, ination, with the driving-ring for the flies, of a an air-check, and an automatic connection between said retarding device and air-check.

9. In a photographic shutter, the combination, with the driving-ring provided witha finger extension, .of a retarding device, and an automatically-operated air-check, said air-check being closed when the retarding device is. disconnected, and opened when the retarding deviceis' connected with the finger extension of the driving-ring.

10. Ina photographic shutter, the combination,-with the driving-ring for the flies, of a retarding device, and means for connecting said retarding device to said driving-ring throughout the movement of the latter, whereby said driving ring is retarded evenly throughout such movement.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAV DIETZ.

the combi ICC 

